Ear ornament clasp with spring actuated jaw



May 5, 1970 w. G. CROWLEY EAR ORNAMENT CLASP WITH SPRING ACTUATED J'AW Filed Feb. 15. 1968 FIGZ FIG.I

FIG.4

INVENTOR. WILLIAM G. CROWLEY BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,509,733 EAR ORNAMENT CLASP WITH SPRING ACTUATED JAW William G. Crowley, Riverside, R.I., assignor to Wells, Inc., a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Feb. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 705,770 Int. Cl. A44c 7/00 US. C]. 6314 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clasp for an ear ornament which may be pushed upwardly onto the ear lobe from beneath with the ear lobe forcing a spring pressed member away from a jaw which engages the outer surface of the ear lobe so as to apply suflicient pressure on the opposite surfaces of the ear lobe to hold the ear ornament in place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ear ornaments have been variously formed to attach to the lobe of the ear. In some constructions a separate spring is used to move the parts together to grip the lobe of the ear while in other cases an integral spring may be formed. In the second form the integral spring is more apt to be damaged or cease functioning because not well protected. In some cases the integral spring may extend over the end of an arm in one position and may be damaged if stops are not provided. In the more complicated constructions the expense of forming and assembling various parts causes the price to rise to an extent out of the inexpensive jewelry field.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ear ornament clasp has one part arched with the opposing arms a suflicient distance apart to receive the ear lobe between them. One of these arms is provided with a clamping jaw, while the other arm is provided with a spring pressed arched member to move it toward the clamping jaw. The spring of the spring pressed member is integral with the member and doubled back upon it and slides along the inner surface of the arm on which it is pivoted, the member being of sufficient length so that it cannot be rocked over the end of the arm on which it is pivoted, thus protecting it in one direction. A roughened arched surface on the pivoted member serves to provide a good grip on the ear lobe below the pivot point so as to swing the pivoted member toward the fixed jaw should the ear lobe be withdrawn, and yet minimum pressure from the spring for comfort in wearing is had.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing the ear ornament in detached position from the ear;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the ear ornament in place on the lobe of the ear;

FIG. 3 is a central sectional view of the clasp;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clamping member; and

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 3 but omitting the upper part of the clamping member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT This clasp comprises an arched shaped member having arms 11 and 12 connected by an arcuate yoke portion 13. These arms extend upwardly from the yoke 13. A cup 14 may be provided at the end of the arm 11 to re ceive an ornament 15 in the cup which may be secured thereto in any known way, such as by a pin or by cementing. Alternately, the surface 16 may be ornamented or 'ice formed with an outline design, as is common in the art. In the form illustrated, by way of example, the arms and yoke are relatively narrow, while a cup-shaped portion 14 extends laterally of the arm 11, being formed with a dish on surface 16 in the shape of the ornament to be received. A smooth convex curved surface of this portion 14 serves as one jaw of the clasp which engages the outer surface 22 of the ear lobe.

The arm 12 has at its upper end a pair of spaced ears 20 folded inwardly from the arm toward the clamping jaw 14 at the end of the arm 11. These ears are provided with openings 21 through their mid-portion. A clamping jaw member designated generally as 25 is shown in perspective in FIG. 4 and comprises a generally arcuate portion of generally trough shape being convexly curved along the bridging portion 26 and also knurled as at 27 so as to obtain a good grip on the inner surface of the lobe of the ear 28. Ears 29 extend from the opposite edges of this member at its upper end and are provided with openings 30. These ears telescope inside of the cars 20 and receive a pivot pin 32 through the registering openings 21 and 30 to pivotally mount the clamping member 25 in a position so that its knurled surface 26 faces the clamping jaw 14 and will pivot so as to swing toward and from this clamping jaw. The pivot 32 being at the upper portion of the jaw member 25 causes the jaw member 25 to swing upwardly toward the fixed jaw 14 and in a direction toward the lower portion of the overhanging portion of the spherical surface 14 (see FIG. 3) which assists in a secure clamping action. The hold that the roughened surface 27 has on the ear lobe will cause the jaw member 25 to swing upwardly if the device is attempted to he slid off the ear lobe without opening the pivoted jaw member 25, thus increasing the pressure on the ear lobe and preventing withdrawal.

A resilient tongue 35 is bent as at 36 from the stock of the member 26 so as to be doubled back on itself extending in substantially the plane of the arcuate surface portion 26. It is curved away from the portion 26 as at 37 and then bent upwardly as at 38 providing a curved knee portion 39 which will engage and slide along the flat straight surface 40 of the arm 12, and by reason of its resilience will tend to swing the member 25 toward the clamping jaw 14 about pivot pin 32 and afford a grip upon the ear lobe 28 when the clasp is forced onto the ear lobe and in the position shown in FIG. 2.

The resilient tongue in relatively long, and as will be observed by inspecting FIGS. 1 and 2, the deformation over its operation positions is small. In this manner substantially constant pressure will be exerted by the jaw, thereby accommodating various sized ear lobes without adjustment.

Finger pieces 41 are provided on either side of jaw member 25 to be engaged for swinging the jaw member to released position.

I claim:

1. An ear ornament clasp comprising a member having a pair of arms with generally parallel inner surfaces and an arcuate yoke joining said arms, the upper end of one of the arms being provided with a clamping jaw adapted to contact the outer surface of the ear lobe, a second clamping member having a surface adapted to engage the inner surface of the ear lobe, means on the other of said arms and said second clamping member for pivotally mounting said second clamping member on said other arm with its said surface facing said clamping jaw, said clamping member having spring means comprising an integral resilient tongue doubling back beneath its said surface and provided with a knee portion providing a convex arcuate surface engaging and sliding along the parallel inner surface of said other arm which faces said 3 4 clamping jaw and for exerting pressure to move said sectance between said arms to limit its pivotal movement 0nd clamping member about its pivotal mountingtoward. from between said arms. a a said clamping jaw.

2. An ear ornament clasp as in claim 1 wherein said References Cited pivotal mounting comprises ears on said second arm and UNITED STATES PATENTS ears on said clamping member telescoping therewith and D a pivot pin extending through said ears.

3. An ear ornament as in claim 1 wherein said second g 24-452 clamping member has an arched surface located between said arms and is pivoted adjacent the outer end of said 10 FOREIGN PATENTS arched surface. 1,127,258 8/1956 France.

4. An ear ornament clasp as in claim 1 wherein the ear engaging face of said clamping member is knurled. BARRY SHAY Pnmary Exammer 5. An ear ornament clasp as in claim 1 wherein the s CL length of said clamping member is greater than the dis- 5 24 252 1,973,282 9/1934 Brush. 

